Letters

Clintons are different & exceptional

Posted 7/20/16

To the Editor: I take issue with the premise of Christopher Curran on his commentary of Hillary Clinton that she is essentially a liar and cannot be trusted. Ever since the Clintons entered the political scene when Bill Clinton became governor of

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Letters

Clintons are different & exceptional

Posted

To the Editor:

I take issue with the premise of Christopher Curran on his commentary of Hillary Clinton that she is essentially a liar and cannot be trusted. Ever since the Clintons entered the political scene when Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas for six terms, they were not endeared to the conservative Republican establishment. They were an anathema to the traditional South, for they were a political team. Bill took on the establishment investing in industry, small business, agriculture, and appointed Hillary to spearhead an overhaul of the Arkansas educational system, which was assessed dead last in the nation. She received acclaim from the legislature and citizens for raising the standards, causing one legislator to exclaim, “I think we may have elected the wrong Clinton.”

However, not all Southerners embraced the Clintons. Bill was viewed as a man who betrayed his Southern heritage by embracing black causes and Hillary was viewed as a feminist who did not take on her husband’s last name (at first), still worked after giving birth to their daughter, did not wear the clothing of a first lady, wore coke bottle glasses, did not beautify herself, and did not shave her legs. All of which sounds quite petty and judgmental. But this was just the beginning.

Throughout Bill Clinton’s Presidency there were influential, well-known Republican and religious personalities who openly expressed contempt for the Clintons and “their ways.” The issues of “Cattlegate,” “Travelgate,” “Filegate” and let’s not forget “Whitewater” – all were fodder for the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife, a conservative religious Republican, now deceased. He was a billionaire who spent about $2 million sending operatives into Arkansas to “dig up” whatever information they could find and imply whatever insinuations they could to whoever would listen. It didn’t stop there, however, as this group of Republicans would meet weekly at the home or office of Ted Olson, an attorney, for the purpose of “getting Clinton.” And Hillary Clinton was not exempt. These trails of investigation and exoneration have plagued and haunted their political enemies, for they cannot accept they have not engaged in criminal behavior.

Hillary was not to blame for the infidelity of her husband and Hillary was not responsible for the failure to keep the outpost of Benghazi safe. If anyone listened to the 11 hours of testimony regarding Benghazi, one would know that the safety of the embassies around the world was not her responsibility. It was President Obama and General Petraeus who gave the go ahead for the rescue, not Hillary Clinton. And the Republicans cannot even accept the determination of Attorney General Comey, a staunch Republican, that although Hillary was careless and sloppy regarding her emails, she was not guilty of criminal intent. By the way, the State Department’s server was hacked, but Hillary’s private server was not as confirmed by Comey.

Hillary could never match the pathological lying of Donald Trump. He lies so often that when questioned, he refutes he ever said it or maintains he was taken out of context. Few journalists hold him accountable for his lying.

Following a person’s behavior for a quarter of a century is a daunting task. Every voter of this country should ask why. I maintain the purpose of following the Clintons for such a period of time is the mistaken belief that surely they must be guilty of some crime. They claim they are looking for justice, but it really is about their twisted sense of justice that is not to be found in our Constitution. The Clintons’ dilemma has always been that they are not traditional; they are different and exceptional.

Karen Gustafson

Warwick

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  • ronruggieri

    I fail to see the point or purpose of this letter. The " horror " of right wing Donald Trump has made otherwise intelligent individuals sound like lethargic lawyers defending bad characters before a bribed and obtuse judge.

    The big fact about Hillary Clinton : she is the favorite presidential candidate of Wall St. and the Pentagon. Her reverence for the Social Gospel is limited to capitalist welfare parsimony. She had no use for the " political revolution " of mild mannered " socialist " Bernie Sanders. So she sabotaged the American " political process " and blamed it ( DNC Wiki Leaks ) on Russia's Vladimir Putin.

    Most working class Americans do not adore Hillary Clinton. Indeed Donald Trump can easily be seen as the " lesser evil ".

    But there are OTHER presidential candidates - like Jill Stein of the Green Party. And militant socialists.

    Check out the World Socialist Web Site.

    Saturday, August 6, 2016 Report this